Investcorp buys shopping centre in Texas

Manama, May 5, 2010

Located in north suburban Houston, the 348,542 sq ft Deerbrook is home to leading US retail chains such as Sports Authority, Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Marshalls, OfficeMax and Old Navy, as well as popular food chains such as Red Lobster and TGI Fridays.

Mohammed Al-Shroogi, Investcorp's president of Gulf business, said: "Investcorp has maintained a measured approach to new equity investments in real estate during these challenging times. Yet, as this acquisition shows, when we find the right opportunity we act decisively.

"We look for opportunities to invest in commercial property assets that are performing well and have strong fundamentals, such as solid anchor tenants and favourable long-term demographic trends," he said.

Deerbrook Marketplace is a perfect example of such an opportunity, as it represents a stable and attractively valued asset in one of the largest economies in the US. Thanks to the effect of the oil industry in the local economy, Texas has been impacted less by the economic downturn. It has comparatively strong spending trends and in Texas the retail sector has emerged earlier from the recession than in other US states, he added.

"This is clearly shown by the facts that Deerbrook is currently 98.5 percent occupied and has a limited lease rollover during the next two years," said Al-Shroogi.

Al-Shroogi added: "Deerbrook Marketplace is an attractive addition to our existing retail assets in Texas, where we and our investors own over 20 properties."